The Ghosts of Greed Resurrected: Bailout Pirates Raid the US Treasury Again

As I predicted in my December 7, '07 Huffington blog the plot to bail out the greedy mortgage banks was in the legal racketeering incubator. It has now come to pass. The high finance schemers are now demanding an escalation beyond the 30 billion dollars doled out for Bear Stearns. To save Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 300 billion dollars in ransom is demanded.

The patriot's alarm must be sounded! Basic conscience and morality dictate that those who insist that the mortgage lenders are "too big to fail" must also vote to accommodate the millions of shelter seeking families who are too desperate and too numerous for the Congress to fail them.

Simultaneously with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac the FDIC regulated banks are failing, causing inevitable new demands for taxpayer rescue rights. The Wall Street geniuses have produced a profitable disaster again -- and Congress is now being told that it must "act responsibly" with a mega-buck handout.

The pending vote on a multi-billion dollar bailout swindle will be the domestic policy equivalent to the vote to declare war on Iraq. For the remainder of their careers every member of Congress will have to justify this vote to his or her constituents.

Look closely and see how a Ponzi scheme concocted by America's best and brightest, with superb logarithms and mysterious hedge fund equations, is launched for a second time within thirty years. It is the Savings and Loan (S&L) debacle all over again.

As it was in the era of the S&L swindle the collapse of many FDIC regulated banks is emerging simultaneously with the collapse of the chartered entities -- Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae -- which have a greater moral claim for more direct federal assistance. As it was in the earlier bailout, we can anticipate that the rescue operations will be legislatively merged as the FDIC coffers are emptied and new schemes are invented to assist powerful depositors -- Arab sheiks, Asian corporate czars, etc. -- whose accounts total more than the guaranteed 100 thousands dollars.

Honesty from the present banking regulatory leadership is to be commended. A proper democratic debate on the utilization of 300 billion dollars can now commence. In contrast, twenty years ago, to placate the S&L racketeers, Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan, and FDIC Boss Seidman performed masterful deceptions that emasculated citizen protest impulses. For the more than 500 billion envisioned by the S&L schemers there was a multiplicity of evasion tactics with the bailout billions being first requested in small installments of less than a hundred billion. However, as confused voters began to wake up and raise questions there was a swiftly legislated complex construction of bailout procedures and entities such as the Resolution Trust Corporation to relieve the lawmakers of the decision-making burden of bailout appropriations -- and end open public discussion. The blank check was delivered with zero transparency.

As this second tsunami of taxpayer robbery escalates there is at least a small window of transparency. The outrageous proposals have been made, but as of July 21st Congress has not voted to yield the ransom. The clock is ticking with ten days remaining before the summer recess. There is a window of opportunity for rational voices to be heard. Homeowners in foreclosure proceedings or threatened with them will converge on Washington between Thursday July 24th and Thursday July 31st for a final surge to stop the big bank bailouts and win the enactment of legislation that freezes home mortgage foreclosures for a year.

Housing advocates from public housing and other forms of affordable housing will join the Washington offensive for a comprehensive housing program in a Peoples' Hearing on Federal Bailout Money at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation (212 East Capitol Street), which is within sight of the Capitol building. Testimony from the victims of mortgage swindlers and tenants suffering from a federal neglectful housing policy will be received from 12 noon to 12 midnight. Former Congressman Major Owens will chair the hearing.

Comments

[mgloraine]

Any business which gets bailed out with the People's money should be owned by the People. Nationalize all of the ASSETS since we get saddled with the liabilities ANYWAY.

All of those big executive salaries and bonuses? Gone that day, and for the period of time determined to be the lead-up to the failure, which means some folks would have to pay back what they have pocketed. If the money owed is slow to materialize, their homes, possessions, and accounts can be seized and estates auctioned.

Yes, that shoe would fit nicely on that other foot.

[Destin]

I think they should be allowed to fail, the only people that will get hurt are the insanely rich. And who knows, since it's the bank defaulting on the mortgages, some of the little guys might get free houses unless some other entity steps in and buys them out. Which is exactly what this is about. I been there, done that when my Florida bank I had a loan through, went bankrupt and failed. Cleared me of my car loan. ;)

[ghostsofamerica]

FANTASTIC, someone finally wrote about the GREAT AMERICAN TREASURY HEIST, by BUSHCO. GOPs

[darker]

Yes, how long will CORPORATE WELFARE QUEENS RULE THE U.S.A.??

It's not news that government's job is TO REGULATE INDUSTRY & MARKETS and TO KEEP ORDER IN ECONOMY.

Bush-Cheney-Republicans BETRAYED AMERICANS by staging a deregulated "gold rush" for greedy corporate profiteers. Our tax money pours from USTreasury into their pockets by the billions in PROFITEER WARS, no-bid contracts, bailing out for-profit greedy CEOs and their Corporations.

SHUT THAT BARN DOOR NOW!
Return to common sense and ORDER by re-regulating all the culprits crashing our economy.

[Chilledogg]

What would happen if Freddie and Fannie fail? What are the consequences to "regular" folk?

[Ohioan4truth]

Understand this...if Freddie and Fannie fail, the rich will hurt. Their pockets books will be flatter! Better to see those that were hoodwinked be homeless and hungry. Doesn't anyone else see this?

[waverly]

We need legislation making CEOs who collect obscene salaries as they degrade the system with their swindles to be held accountable with stiff fines and penalties (maybe 50% of income over the time period of their irregular activities) and loss of job before any bailout from taxpayers occurs. They definitely would be less inclined to swindle if that penalty hung over their heads.

We hear from the GOP that the federal government is not responsible to help assist taxpayers when they fall on hard times. Why, then, is it ok for federal government to prop up the rich to continue their criminal activities without retribution?

We need to end this hypocrisy! To prop up the rich and powerful and to bail out corporations and financial institutions who have purposely committed criminal activities are far too costly.

[Destin]

The penalty you speak of, fines and penalties, sounds like a slap on the wrist. The penalties would have to include seizure of ALL assetts, money and lengthy prison time. But even that probably wouldn't stop some CEO's from seeing if they can get away with it. ;)

[mikep]

The RICO laws allow for confiscation of all assets including personal ones. And they very, very definitely violated the RICO laws, it was definitely a conspiracy.

[ricchase]

The despicable actions of our government and the corporate and financial sectors of our society are causing me to reevaluate my responsibilities as an American. As well as what actions may be necessary to bring everything back into line.